Ring Nebulae around Massive Stars throughout the HR Diagram

Abstract

Massive stars evolve across the HR diagram, losing mass along the way and forming a variety of ring nebulae. During the main sequence stage, the fast stellar wind sweeps up the ambient interstellar medium to form an interstellar bubble. After a massive star evolves into a red giant or a luminous blue variable, it loses mass copiously to form a circumstellar nebula. As it evolves further into a WR star, the fast WR wind sweeps up the previous mass loss and forms a circumstellar bubble. Observations of ring nebulae around massive stars not only are fascinating, but also are useful in providing templates to diagnose the progenitors of supernovae from their circumstellar nebulae. In this review, I will summarize the characteristics of ring nebulae around massive stars throughout the HR diagram, show recent advances in X-ray observations of bubble interiors, and compare supernovae's circumstellar nebulae with known types of ring nebulae around massive stars.